The incident took place around 9am when the girl had gone out of the house to play with the other children in the locality.

Aman Vihar is one of the most unsafe places for women in the city, according to police data. In 2016, there were 60 rape cases registered at the local police station – the highest in Delhi. (Representative Photo, Shutterstock)

An 18-month-old girl was abducted and raped by her 33-year-old neighbour in outer Delhi’s Aman Vihar locality, police said on Thursday.

The girl had to undergo an emergency operation for injuries suffered during the assault and, police said, there was no danger to her life.

A printing press employee, Rakesh, was arrested for the crime. According to the police, he confessed during interrogation.

The incident took place at around 9am on Wednesday, when the girl had stepped out of the house to play with the other children in the locality. An investigating officer said the girl’s mother found her outside about an hour later with her clothes dishevelled, bleeding and complaining of pain.

The mother rushed her to a hospital, where doctors informed the police. “We zeroed in on Rakesh after making enquiries in the locality. We also learnt he was missing from his house,” said deputy commissioner of police, outer Delhi, MN Tiwari.

“Based on the medical report and a statement from her family members, we registered a case of rape under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act,” he added.

If found guilty, Rakesh faces a minimum of seven years in prison, going up to a life sentence.

Aman Vihar is one of the most unsafe places for women in the city, according to police data. In 2016, there were 60 rape cases registered at the local police station – the highest in Delhi.

Capital shamed again

Delhi Police statistics till September 30 last year show that at least one girl was raped every 12 hours

CRIME AGAINST CHILDREN

From home to school and neighbours to cousins — no safe quarters for girls◼October 4: A housekeeping staff allegedly raped a six-year-old girl in a washroom of a private school in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar◼September 20: A nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a man in central Delhi’s Raigarpura◼July 5: A seven-year-old girl was kidnapped, raped and murdered allegedly by her 25-year-old neighbour in northeast Delhi’s Usmanpur◼June 10: An 11-year-old girl was gangraped allegedly by her two cousins in outer Delhi’s Sultanpuri◼May 5: A 15-year-old mentally unstable girl was kidnapped and raped allegedly by her 22-year-old neighbour in Govindpuri◼May 4: A 3-year-old girl was raped allegedly by her neighbour in central Delhi’s Anand Parbat◼February 23: A four-year-old girl was raped and murdered allegedly by her 16-year-old neighbour at a building construction site in Narela◼January 10: A 15-year-old homeless girl was gangraped multiple times allegedly by a group of five teenagers over a period of several months at different isolated spaces around the Mayur Vihar-I Metro station in east Delhi